


Out Of The Frying Pan - ON HIATUS

by xXOrchidChildXx



Series: Fire of Love [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Named Reader, Romance, Slow-ish burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-16
Updated: 2016-06-19
Packaged: 2018-05-14 05:27:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5731066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xXOrchidChildXx/pseuds/xXOrchidChildXx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A hiking accident sends you down the rabbit hole to a world unlike anything you've ever experienced before. Now you have to try and navigate monster society, hide the fact that you're human and find a way back to the surface. That's quite the tall order. Luckily, a certain bartender has made it his mission to keep you safe. (More Tags to be added as story progresses. Grillby/Reader. Grillby/OC. Grillby/OriginalFemaleCharacter)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. And Down The Hole...No, wait.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes. This is a thing now. 
> 
> Because everyone's favourite fire barman needs more love than he's getting and almost because a friend of mine basically shouted at me until I started.
> 
> This is beta'd by the lovely OnaDacora who is writing the incredibly amazing 'Would That Make You Happy' which I HIGHLY recommend you read id you like Sans or Undertale in General.
> 
> ((Please note, Reader has a name, which will be revealed in the next couple of chapters))

_‘Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, OW!’_

That was the first thought that filled your mind as you slowly regained consciousness. A dull pain throbbed at the back of your head, pulsating around to your temples and over your eyes. It wasn’t incredibly painful but still more than a bit distracting as you pushed yourself up.

As you looked around the reason for the headache become more apparent. You were seated in the middle of a bed of golden flowers at the bottom of what you could only describe as a massive hole. A few large columns (similar to those found in ancient temples) stood scattered about, green vines crawling over their stone faces, reaching for the ceilings where stalactites rained down, casting an eerie shadow over the whole place.

You groan.

You must have tripped and fallen down, though how you survived such a thing was beyond your own comprehension. Surely such a fall should have killed you?

Another groan and you try to being yourself to your feet, albeit unsuccessfully at first. Your legs ached, particularly your ankles and your back screamed in protest; no doubt due to the force of which you landed and that fact that a small backpack that contained your day trip essentials, did not do anything in breaking your landing. As you slowly gained your footing you thought over the events that lead up to ending up in this hole.

You’d awoken early, like usual on your yearly mid-summer camping trip to Mt. Ebott, and changed out of your pyjamas. You quickly ate breakfast and double checked your supplies for the day as you’d planned to spend the day hiking and to return to camp an hour before nightfall. With everything ready you’d packed the rest of your equipment up and zipped up your tent and then you’d headed up the mountain.  You took a track that you knew fairly well, and had enjoyed a lunch of cheese and salami sandwich (or two) along with a handful of dried apricots and a flask of tea on a fallen tree log.

After that, everything gets a bit fuzzy.

You remember following the trail for about another hour before you diverted off into the woods, confident in your own ability to make it back to the track so long as you didn’t go too far.

You groan once more, trying to recall how you had fallen, or where you had been but nothing comes forward. You mutter a curse under your breath and look around once more. You knew you wouldn’t be able to climb out, the walls were too steep and that curve of the ceiling made the task almost impossible but surely there must be another way out of this place?

“Well feet, let’s get moving”

Exploring the hole turned out to be a whole lot quicker than you imagined. It wasn’t that big nor was there much there besides flora, those ancient looking columns and the stalactites. The whole place was about as big as a penguins drive way, which is to say that it wasn’t all that big at all. In no time you had found an exit (or what you sorely hoped was an exit), a tunnel carved out of the rocks which lead down to…

“What in the world?”

You stood before what could only be called an archway. It was large, much taller than yourself (and standing at 5 foot 10 inches that was saying something) and obviously carved by hand. It looked old, just like that columns you’d seen earlier and if you had to guess you would say it was made by the same people or civilization. As you took a closer look you noticed something inscribed at the highest point of the arch, a symbol of sorts that reminded you of The Star of David crossed with a pair of Angel Wings.

You briefly wondered what the symbol meant as you took a deep breath, hoping to steel yourself against what might lie beyond the archway. However, there was no way to prepare you for what you were about to experience.

Sitting all by itself, in the middle of yet another room (though this one was even darker than the one you’d started out in) was a single golden flower. It looked similar to a daisy if you were completely honest, maybe, with a bit of sunflower thrown in for good measure.

“Hey, who the hell are you?”

You jumped. The unexpectedness of the voice coupled with the fact that the ground was less than level meant you landed clean on your butt, staring at the flower with wide eyes.

It had just spoken to you. A flower had just spoken to you.

You blinked, pulling yourself to your hands and knees before inching closer to the plant. It stared at you with a look of confusion and possibly disgust, its petals bristling like a cat when cornered.

“Well, aren’t you rude? Staring at me like that. What? You never seen a flower before?” It snapped at you. You were sure that if it was possible the plant would have had its leaves placed on its hips.

You were sure you were doing a pretty good imitation of a gold fish as you stopped in front of the flower. Trying your best you ignore the urge to poke at one of the golden petals, noting that they seemed to be a bit singed around the edges.

How in the world did the flower get burnt all the way down here? Then again, this whole place was starting to feel weird, like it didn’t comply with the same Universal Laws that your own Earth did.

“Man, this is getting too Alice in Wonderland for me,” you mutter under your breath, that familiar dull ache starting once again in the back of your head.

“Hey, don’t ignore me stupid!”

The flower seemed to be getting rather angry that you hadn’t answered its question. Now what had it asked you again? Oh yeah. It wanted to know who you were.

However, it seemed that Lady Luck was not on your side today (as if that hadn’t been clear from the falling down a hole into a strange new world). As you went to answer, an almost ticklish sensation over-took your nose. It was a feeling that you knew all too well.

“AH-CHOO!”

You grimaced, looking at the now snot-covered flower. It did not look happy; not at all.

“YOU IDIOT! YOU DISGUSTING PIG!”

You quickly scrambled to your feet, the verbal assault that tumbled form from the flowers mouth more than enough incentive for you to make a hasty retreat.

You ran and ran and ran.

Grey rocks soon gave way to purple bricks, flat trails gave way to stairs, arches and pillars gave way to small bridges and shallow streams and short narrow hallways gave way you large corridors.

Honestly, this place was a maze.

It was only when you were sure that you had put enough distance between yourself and the flower that you allowed yourself a break, slumping down against the purple brick wall and pulling your legs to your chest. Your breath was heavy and you felt exhausted, but you still had no idea where you were. Only that apparently flowers could talk and were right bigoted assholes.

Roughly ten minutes later you’re once again pulling yourself to your feet. In all honesty your entire body hurts, your legs are aching and your back feels like it’s slowly trying to murder you but you have to keep moving. It’s not that you don’t trust this place, whatever it is, it’s just…No, that’s exactly it. That insane flower hasn’t exactly given you the best first impression.

Once more the scenery around you begins to change. It’s still the purple bricks and long hallways but now it just seems more…You don’t know, homey? There are bunches of red leaves at almost every turn and ivy crawls along the walls and ground. There’s still the occasional pillar and bridge, but soon they too disappear all together. It’s only when you nearly walk face-first into a tall, black-barked tree that you realise this place might not be as empty as you’d first thought.

Peering around the thick trunk you lay eyes on what you could only describe was the cutest and neatest wee house you’ve ever seen. You’re not sure if it’s carved into the surrounding walls or was just made to look like them but either way it doesn’t really matter. It’s a house and typically where there’s a house, there are people!

You would have skipped to the front door, had your body not been protesting quite so much. Taking a deep breath you knock, listening as the sound echoes around you, bouncing off the brick work. Huh, maybe no one’s home? You step closer to the door, knocking once more. Once again the sound only echoes. You can’t hear anything. There are no foot-steps rushing to the door or any voices from anyone inside.

 “Third time’s the charm” You tell yourself as you knock once again, this time however there’s no echo. You frown, looking around at the bricked walls and the bunch of red leaves that lay under the large tree. As you look back at the door a gasp pulls itself from your throat. No…Freakin’…Way.

The door that had been closed seconds before was now wide open, gently hitting the inside wall with a small ‘thump’. You bite your lip. This was seriously getting out of hand.

Slowly, as if you were afraid you were going to get caught you step inside; letting the warmth of the house wash over you and relieve some of the stress you had been feeling. It was cosy and had a dash of old country charm to it, which was something that made you feel a little more at ease. You made your way down one of the hallways, peaking into a couple of the rooms; you didn’t want to be nosy but at the same time if this house had some way out of this place then you definitely wanted to find it.

But, just like any other house it was rather simple. A couple of bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room filled with books and a cosy fireplace that you would have just loved to have curled up in front of and a kitchen, complete with a fridge filled of containers that had…something slimy in them.

“Damn it all” You groan, leaning against the banister, eyeing one of the snail pictures that hung on a nearby wall. Whoever owned this house sure loved their snails, that was for sure. Letting out a frustrated sigh you pull yourself away from the banister, shaking out your limbs before you continued on with your quest.

You had to find some way out of this place. You just had too.

Descending the stairs into what you could only assume was the basement you start to wish that you’d packed a torch when you’d set off this morning. It was dark and the air hung cold and thick. Scorch marks and rubble littered the hallway, causing apprehension to bubble up in the pit of your stomach.

Had there been some sort of fight here recently? Was the creature responsible for the damage still around? Suddenly the empty house and self-opening door implied something a lot darker than what you had first thought.

Maybe the occupants of the house weren’t just ‘away’, maybe something terrible had happened to them?

Shaking your head you come to a stop. The day’s events were no doubt taking a major hit on your mental state at the moment. There was no reason to think that way. You had to keep walking. You had to keep going.

You had to find a way out.

 

* * *

 

_**Come join me and other readers to talk about all things related to my new story ‘Out Of The Frying Pan’. I also reblog pictures and headcanons of Grillby that I like.** _

_**['Out Of The Frying Pan' Official Tumblr](http://outofthefryingpanoffical.tumblr.com/) ** _


	2. And Into The Snow...Hang on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your adventure continues. 
> 
> Doors, ruins, snow, puzzles and one very interesting fire creature all make their entrance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SOOO sorry that this took so long but I had a really nasty chest infection and that sorta nexxed any creativeness I had. 
> 
> Thank you everyone for all the kudos, subscriptions and bookmarks. It had honestly blown my mind that the first chapter did so well. I'm so happy that everyone enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. 
> 
> Also, I'm just going to be a wee warning here, just in case you missed it in the first chapter but this is a NAMED READER/ORIGINAL CHARACTER story.

You must have stared at the door for a good five minutes before you groaned. It was large and purple (seriously, why was everything purple here?) and had the same symbol as before etched into its surface.

“Must be some sort of religious thing” You muttered to yourself as you reached out, hands splayed across the cool rock. You push, hard. Slowly it starts to move, a loud creaking sound echoing down the hallway from which you had just come. Still you keep pushing; you had to get out of here, had to find some way back to humanity.

A cold wind suddenly welcomes you as you slip through the crack you’d managed to open in the door (there was no way you’d be able to open the giant, solid rock doors all the way), your hiking boots crunching in the snow.

So, the house’s basement opened up to a snowy forest. Go figure.

An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of your stomach as you make your way forward, glancing warily at the tall, leafless trees that sit on either side of the snow covered path. This place was unlike anywhere you’d ever been before. No forest around your home town looked like this, nor any forest you’d ever been too before.

Not even the forests in your home land of New Zealand looked like this, and they had been used as a back drop for The Lord Of The Rings for crying out loud!

“…Wait a minute”

Suddenly you’re scrambling, hands burying themselves in pockets in a desperate search for your old trusty cellphone. How in the world had you forgotten about it? You really must have hit your head hard.

“YES!” You yell, clutching the old square device in your hand, a huge grin spread across your face. Well, the screen wasn’t cracked and the body didn’t appear to have suffered any damage. A quick press of the power button later and you’re letting out another shout of joy. It worked! The damn thing still worked! However, as soon as you look at your signal your heart drops, no damned signal at all. Not even one measly bar.

Damn it!

“Well, so much for that thought”, you grumble, flipping the device open to access the key pad. It was an old phone, the first and only smart phone you’d ever owned. Honestly, you’d never seen the need to upgrade to an iPhone or a Galaxy or whatever the company’s were selling now-a-days. Your trusty square could send and receive texts and calls just fine, what more did you need?

* * *

 

You groan (something you seem to be doing a lot of since you fell down that hole), this place was completely insane. It made no logical sense at all. So far you had passed by a strange collection puzzles that you could only describe as something you’d find in an Indy RPG. Now, you liked a good puzzle as much as the next person but this was getting out of hand. Not to mention your entire body was now both sore and freezing cold.

You yawn, moving to sit down on a tree stump next to the path you were following. Your head was throbbing something wicked now and your legs and back were screaming at you to stop.

But could you risk it? Could you really afford to take a break?

You’d heard plenty of tales before about hikers and trampers on mountains that stop to take a break and never get going again. Heck, Mount Everest was a testament to how dangerous it could be to take a break and fall asleep in the snow.

You yawn again. Whether it was the day’s events that were making you tired or having to battle against the cold and the snow you didn’t know.

“Agh, this is crazy”

The complaint escapes you as you pull yourself to your feet. You wobble, legs shaking as you tentatively take a step forward then another one. On your third step your entire body shakes violently and a sharp pain shoots up your back. You collapse in a heap, a soft groan falling from your lips as darkness quickly eats away at the edge of your vision.

* * *

 

A warm, white, light dances before your closed eyes. You throw an arm over your face, trying to shield yourself from the source of the light. Your brain screams in protest, you can feel the very strum of your heart beat throbbing across your temples and forehead.

God. You feel like you’ve played a couple of rounds with Jonah Lomu and then caged fought Sonny Bill Williams.

You were vaguely aware of a sort of soft sound coming from in front of you. It sounds warm and comforting, a soft pop and crackle that reminded you old cold Central winters gathered around the fireplace of the farm watching the big game with your friends and family.

_“Are you awake?”_

The voice was unlike anything you’ve ever heard. Soft, almost a whisper, it swirls like smoke inside your mind, twisting and turning in odd ways that didn’t seem humanly possible. But then again, from what you’ve seen so far you aren’t exactly sure that the realm of humanly possible applied to where ever you currently were.

You groan eyes opening as you pull yourself up. Your back aches, a dull throb from your shoulders all the way down to your tail bone. You look around, you’re sitting on a large couch, the old leather is worn and in some places patched with scraps of fabric, your hands bunch in the quilt that had been thrown your form. All around you is mismatched and old worn furniture; it is as if the room had been fashioned from salvage from several different sources. Across from you is a crackling fire, the soft glow being the only light in the room, or so you think. Quite suddenly you realise something warm is behind you.

You turn, eyes going wide as they land on the owner of the voice.

There was no way…

_“Miss? Are you alright? Can you speak?”_

Your mouth falls open and you blink. This couldn’t be real. You reach up to rub at your eyes; standing before you is a person that is quite literally made out of fire. Dumbly you nod, the pain in your head and back is momentarily forgotten as you watch this creature move around the back of the couch to sit beside you. He (or at least you assume they’re a he, based on the voice and the adam’s apple) seems to be watching you from behind a pair of spectacles and you absentmindedly wonder how in the world a man made of fire could wear the button down shirt and cardigan that they were without it bursting into flame.

Also, how in the world is he speaking without a mouth?!

“Ah…yes…I think…”

Words have seem to fail you as you try to think back to what happened before you lost consciousness for the second time that day. Whoa, had you really blacked out twice in one day? That couldn’t be a good thing. You groan and bring your hands up to your temples rubbing them, the now familiar dull throbbing was back. Oh, how you wished you had some painkil-

“Ah, my backpack!”

Almost frantically you begin to look around, twisting and turning your body as you scan the room for the small gold and blue bag that holds all your day trip essentials. A warm hand rests on your shoulder and you stop, turning to look at the fire creature as he holds up his other hand only to point down at the foot of the couch. You give a small sound of relief as you lean down and grab the bag, digging through its content and only stopping once you find your half filled water bottle (seriously, how had **THAT** survived the fall and not burst?!) and the small plastic clip-box that acts as your first aid kit. Two pills and a large gulp of water later and you lean back into the couch, for the state it was in it was actually really comfy. You give a contented sigh and turn to look at the fire creature. He seems to be eyeing you with what you could only assume was curiosity.

_“Do you feel better?”_

“Not right now, but I will soon” You explain, leaning back into the couch even more. Lord, it was just so comfy, you could honestly just fall asleep right that moment without a further care in the world. But you know you can’t.

You don’t have that luxury at the moment.  

“How long was I out for?” You ask, nervously biting at your lower lip as you think about how long you could have been out in the snow. Surely it was a miracle that you’d survived.

_“Only a couple of hours”_ The fire man replies, his voice is definitely something else; that was for sure. _“I thought it best to bring you here before the Royal Guard found you. Humans are a rarity in the Underground.”_

A million and three questions suddenly spring into your mind. What did he mean by humans were a rarity? Sure you hadn’t seen any during your little ‘adventure’ but that didn’t mean there weren’t any around right? And what was that about a Royal Guard?

“Ah, right. I’ll ask about that later, when my head doesn’t feel like it’s been used all day as a rugby ball” You say “Thanks for getting me out of the snow…”

_“Grillby, my name is Grillby”_

Grillby. For some reason you liked the sound of that.

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you Grillby, I’m Evie. And thanks again for getting me out of the snow.” You grin. “You said that we’re in the Underground? Um, what is that?”

The man’s fire seems to dim a little bit as you speak. You watch Grillby as he turns from you, moving to face the fire place, his hands folding in his lap. You’d seen body language like this before, when your Aunt and Uncle were trying to find the right words to explain something complicated to your younger cousins; like why their gold fish had died or why your own parents weren’t around anymore.

_“I suppose Humans can forget things pretty easily,”_ Grillby spoke; his voice lower than before and you almost have to strain to hear him. _“The Underground is home to Monsters, like myself. Humans very rarely manage to enter here,”_

“Let me guess,” you say almost bitterly, turning to look at the fire place yourself. “Entering usually involves falling down a massive hole in a mountain side and wandering aimlessly through a maze of ruins and by-passing enough puzzles that it could make you go insane?”

Grillby didn’t reply. Out of the corner of your eye you see him raise, your backpack in one of his hands. You frown.

_“I have a spare bed in the study, it will be much more comfortable than a couch”_ He tells you, offering his other hand which you take. It feels weird to be on your feet again, your knees shake and calves are screaming in protest but you force yourself to stand up straight. _“We can talk more in the morning, but for now it would be best for you to rest. You have had an eventual day, from what I can gather.”_

You can’t help the soft smile that spreads across your face. For the first time since you woke up in that cave you feel like things might just be okay.

* * *

_**Come join me and other readers to talk about all things related to my new story ‘Out Of The Frying Pan’. I also reblog pictures and headcanons of Grillby that I like.** _

_**['Out Of The Frying Pan' Official Tumblr](http://outofthefryingpanoffical.tumblr.com/) ** _


	3. Hiatus - I'm sooo sorry

I apologize profusely for not getting around to this sooner but life here has been a bit on the hectic side recently.

_**Out Of The Frying Pan will be going on hiatus effect of immediately.** _

Chapter 3, no matter how hard I try, is just refusing to be written and is giving me nothing but grief. Nothing I write feels natural or flows easily, it all looks stiff and forced and I refuse to post sub-par writing just to get a chapter out. 

A big thank you to everyone for supporting me, I wish I could hug every single last one of you for all your kind words. 

Hopefully focusing on some other projects will give me some time to work on the issues facing me with chapter 3.

I will be posting a one shot of Grillby/Reader. An alternative confession of love that I was going to use in OOTFP but then decided to take a different route for.

Thank you again to everyone who’s supported me! I love you all.


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